Derek Jeter says '14 will be last year
Derek Jeter says '14 will be last year
ESPN.com news services
New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter announced on Facebook that the 2014 season will be his last.
"The 2014 season will be my last year playing professional baseball," the Yankees captain said in a 15-paragraph note on the social media site.
Jeter called Hal Steinbrenner on Wednesday morning to inform him of his plans to retire but asked the owner to keep the news quiet, team president Randy Levine told ESPNNewYork.com.
A certain Hall of Famer, Jeter said in the Facebook post that, "Through it all, I've never stopped chasing the next [World Series title]. I want to finally stop the chase and take in the world."
Hampered by injuries last season, Jeter played in just 17 games and hit a career-low .190 with one home run and seven RBIs.
For his career, Jeter has 3,316 hits with a .312 batting average and 256 home runs. He ranks first in Yankees history in games played, at-bats, hits and stolen bases.
A five-time World Series champion and the 1995 AL Rookie of the Year, Jeter would be eligible for the 2020 Hall of Fame voting.
"In the 21-plus years in which I have served as commissioner, Major League Baseball has had no finer ambassador than Derek Jeter," MLB commissioner Bud Selig said in a statement. "Since his championship rookie season, Derek has represented all the best of the national pastime on and off the field. He is one of the most accomplished and memorable players of his -- or any -- era."
In his Facebook post, Jeter thanked "The Boss, the Steinbrenner family, the entire Yankees organization" as well as managers, coaches, teammates, friends, family and the fans.
"I will remember it all: the cheers, the boos, every win, every loss, all the plane trips, the bus rides, the clubhouses, the walks through the tunnel and every drive to and from the Bronx," the post read. "I have achieved almost every personal and professional goal I have set. I have gotten the very most out of my life playing baseball, and I have absolutely no regrets."
Jeter's final series as a Yankee is set to be at Fenway Park against the rival Boston Red Sox, starting Sept. 28.
Within minutes of the announcement that was posted to Jeter's Facebook page, ticket prices started soaring on the web.
Ticket aggregator TiqIQ said that the cheapest seat for the game at around 2 p.m. ET, before Jeter's announcement was posted, was $26.
An hour later, the site didn't have anything for less than $200.
Jim Holzman, CEO and president of Boston-based Ace Tickets, the largest broker in town, saw a huge uptick as well.
Ace raised the prices for a bleacher seat from $129 to $149. A field-box seat jumped from $275 to $349.
Information from ESPN.com's Darren Rovell contributed to this report.
